Automatic phonograph



E. A. LANDBERG ET AL July 11, 1950 AUTOMATIC PHONOGRAPH 15 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 5, 1944 July 11, 1950 E. A. LANDBERG ET AL 2,514,701

AUTOMATIC PHONOGRAPH Filed July 5, 1944 15 Sheets-Sheet 2 mil I76 737 July 11, 1950 E. A. LANDBERG ET AL AUTOMATIC PHONOGRAPH 15 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 5, 1944 l} 5 99% W w 6 6 I I I I I l ll 0 4 v m w a 2 7 6 v I 1 M 4 9 w 4W 6 n W W 1 2 4/ l a 7 w w U 6 I 2 m w July 11, 1950 E. A. LANDBERG ET AL 2,514,701

AUTOMATIC PHONOGRAPH Filed July 5, 1944 15 Sheets-Sheet 4 I I I m July 11, 1950 E. A. LANDBERG ET AL AUTOMATIC PHONOGRAPH 15 Sheets-Sheet 5 Fild July 5, 1944 u l I Q 5 E. A. LANDBERG ET AL July 11, 1950 AUTOMATIC PHONOGRAPH Filed July 5, 1944 15 Sheets-Sheet 6 July 11, 1950 AUTOMATIC PHONOGRAPH a 0 0 Z, 4 1 w 75 3 z 4%, Q 1 m ilk- 3 6 .7 7. x m 55 3 w 4 g s m. W M 2 .F 5 g July 11, 1950 E. A. LANDBERG ET AL 2,

AUTOMATIC PHONOGRAPH Filed July 5, 1944 v 15 Sheets-Sheet 9 F' ii 56 I 35 40 W 1/ 5 1 35 35 58' 52 u 9 l g. I a A y m4 55 4 Tglfv.

July 11, 1950 E. A. LANDBERG ET AL AUTOMATIC PHONOGRAPH l5 Sheets-Sheet 11 Filed July 5, 1944 July 11, 1950 E. A. LANDBERG ET AL AUTOMATIC PHONOGRAPH l5 Sheets-Sheet 12 Filed July 5, 1944 July 11, 1950 I E. A. LANDBERG ET AL 2,514,701

AUTOMATIC PHONOGRAPH Filed July 5, 1944 15 Sheets-Sheet 15 July 11, IMO E. A. LANPBERG ET AL AUTOMATIC PHONOGRAPH l5 Sheets-Sheet 14 Filed July 5, 1944 July 11, 1950 E. A. LANDBERG ET AL AUTOMATIC PHONOGRAPH 15 Sheets-Sheet 15 Filed July 5, 1944 W EW Patented July 11, 1950 2,514,701 AUTOMATIC PHONOGRAPH Erik Arne Landberg and Nils Gustav Yngve Torphammar, Trollhattan, Sweden Application July 5, 1944, Serial No. 543,530

In Sweden July 10, 1943 of the type including a reciprocating record carriage and a selecting device by means of which records of two different sizes may be selected for playing on any desired side. I

The object of the invention is to provide a phonograph of the above said type which permits P y ng of both sides of the records without requiring a turning of the records upside down,

An essential feature of the invention resides in the provision of a double playing mechanism including two oppositely facing record supporting surfaces each adapted to act in playing an individual one of the two sides of a record.

The two record supporting surfaces may comprise either two separate turn-tables or opposite sides of a Single turn-table.

In the said firstmentioned case the record supporting surfaces may face from each other or to each other, and the respective turn-tables may, preferably, rotate oppositely, in which case their direction of rotation need not be reversed in connection with the change of record side to be played.

In the accompanying drawings Figs. 1-17 illustrate in detail an embodiment of the invention, including a carriage for records of two different sizes, Whereas Figs. 18-20 show some modifications.

With reference to Figs. 1-17,

Fig. 1 is a front View of the phonograph in normal position,

Fig. 2 is a front view showing a large record in playing position.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation, partly in section, showing the apparatus in normal position as ready for I playing records of the large size.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation, partly in section, showing a large record in playing position,

Fig. 5 is a plan view, partly in section and with part of the carriage broken away,

Fig. 5a is a side elevation of some details of Fig. 5, as seen from the rear side thereof.

Fig. 6 is a side elevation, partly in section, of bracket controlling means,

Fig. 7 is a rear view of said means,

Fig. 8 is a plan view, partly in section, of means for controlling the movement of the carriage,

Fig. 9 is a side elevation of electromagnetically operable means for'controlling the starting and the stopping of the playing of a record,

Fig; 10 is a plan view of the front end. of the control shaft and associated members,

Fig. 11 is a detail view of the upper end of a tone arm,

18 Claims. (Cl. 274-40) Figs. 12-17' are elevations of means for controlling the movements of the carriage,

Fig. 18 is a front'view and Fig. 19 is a side elevation of a modified embodiment,

Fig. 20 is a front and Fig. 21 is a side elevation of another modified embodiment,

Fig. 22 is an electric diagram of the electrical circuits of the embodiment shown in'Figs, 1-17,

Fig. 23 is a diagram of the electrical circuits of the embodiment shown in Figs. 18 and 19, and

Fig. 24 is a diagram of the electrical circuits shown in Figs. 20 and 21.

' The apparatus illustrated in Figs. 1-17 as an embodiment of the invention is built for fifty records, viz., fifteen of the large size and thirty-five of the small size. Of course, th apparatus may be constructed for any desired number of records and for'any relation desired between large and small sized records without departing from the principle of the invention. V

The main partsof the phonograph comprises a' frame, a record carriage mounted to reciprocate on said frame, a double playing mechanism provided below the path of the carriage, a device for selecting any desired record and any desired side thereof, and means for removing the record selected from the carriage and delivering it to the position for playing the side selected, and restoring it to its seat in the carriage after the playing of said side is ended. The apparatus further includes means for special purposes, such as repetition and so on. I

The frame comprises, essentially, a base plate I, front and rear columns 2 and 3, respectively, and stays to interconnect said columns. Supported by said columns at the front and rear sides of the frame'are a pair of rails 4 forming the path for the record carriage 5. On saidrails the carriage may-reciprocate in the 'east-west'direction by means of small wheels or rollers 6.

To form a container for the records the carriage is divided by vertical partitions 5 extending in the north-south direction, that is to say, at right angles to the direction of the path 4, into a plurality of compartments, one for each record. As the records available in the market are, generally, of two different sizes, it is preferred to dimension all of the compartments to suit the large-sized records and provide means for changing the compartments in a simple way to suit the small-sized records. In the drawing fifteen records of the large size and-thirty-five records of the small size are indicated, The former are positioned to the left in the carriage, Fig. 1, and designated as a whole by the reference character S1, as shown in Fig. 1, whereas the small-sized records are positioned to the right in the carriage and designated as a whole b the reference character S2. The compartments are open at their tops to allow the records to be freely placed therein. They are also open at their bottoms to allow the automatic removal of the records to be played. To support the records as contained in the carriage a bar 1 is provided in th rigid frame below the carriage centrally with respect to the rails 4 The top surface of said bar is smooth so as to allow the records to slide easily thereon, as the carriage is moving in one direction or the other. The records are held in positions :right above the,

supporting bar 1, as far as the largerrecor-ds are concerned, by means of the distance piece inserted between adjacent partitions at the front and rear side of the carriage, as will appear from Fig. 4, and, as far as the small records are concerned, by means of guide rods 8, Fig. 3, extending through apertures in the partitions. .By adjusting these rodsaxially the'number of compartments to receive small records may be arbitrarily increased or decreased.

The supportingjbar is out ofiat two points, so as to form two slotsas shown at '9 in Fig.2. Said slots are adapted to :permit removing arecord at a'time from the carriage and deliver it to the playing mechanism provided. below the'pa-th of the carriage. One slot leads to a position for playing one-side of the records and the other-slot to a position for playing the other side. In order to prevent simultaneous discharge of records .through both slots -9 the distance between the slots'must not be equal to a whole multiple of the space between the records as contained .in the carriage. It is thus evident that,'when--a record 'is'situated right above "one slot 9 or has-descended therethrough, no record may stand right above the other slot or pass down therethrough. "In the example shown the distance-between the centers of the slots 9*represents-9 record spaces'ofthe carriage,

reversing gearing comprises ra bfevel gear M on the fore end of shaft t5 and :a pair of bevel "gears 13 slida'bly but not rotatably mounted on shaft l2 whicnmay be displaced aXially'so-as to 'movethe one gear orithe other-into mesh 'with gear M. In additiony-the' pair' of bevel gears It may be setato 'an intermediate position in which both of themare'outof :mesh with gear M. The 'driving connection between gears '13 and shaft '12 is e'if'ec'ted by means of .a :pin l6 on the shaft enga'ging an axial sl'o't formed in the hub of gears 13$ Iheaxialdisplacement of gears lsi-seffected by 'means of a .pin it! engaging into "between a pair of flanges r1collars provided on the hub or gears t3. which will be'more nearly described :h'ereinbe'low. Rotation is imparted to shaft l P5. Shaft T5 is mounted in a .fore bearing 2 I,

a rear bearing 22, Fig. 8, and an intermediate bearing 23, Figs. 3 and 8.-

The pin H to effect displacement of the pair of bevel gears I3 is controlled by two independently operating levers 24 and 25, mounted on stationary fulcrums 26 and 2?, Figs. 12-17. Pivotally and, within certain limits, slidably connected to the outer (or left hand, Fig. 12) end of lever 2a is a link 2.8, inasmuch as an elongated slot thereof embraces a pin 29 carried by the lever. Similarly, another link 38 is connected by means of an elongated slot and a pin 3! to the corresponding (left hand) end of lever 25. Said links '28 and 39] extend upwards to the vicinity of the path i of the carriage. The upper .arm or a lever 33 essentially shaped as an upside-down turned T the other horizontal arm of which is mounted on the stationary fulcrum St. The upper end of link as is pivoted at 35 to a similar lever '36 :having its fulcrum at 3]. The upturned of the levers'33, 36 project freely upwards for cooperation'tv-ith studs 38, 39, All attached to a suitable part of the carriage, such as rack H3. The levers -33, 135 are loaded by coil springs ti, .2, mounted on links 43, M which are So'oonnected with the levers and so arranged as to form toggle joint levers in conjunction therewith, thereby permitting the springs to shift'the levers readily between their extreme positions on opposite sides-of the center lines of thetw-o toggle joints and maintain them'in the new position.

Extending below the levers is a resilient stop '45,

Fig. 12, adapted to softly check the downward movement of the levers.

The levers 24, 25 which may be operated by means of the links 28, 38 in a way to be hereinbelow described, may also be operated by :means of'a control shaft -46 located above shaft [.5 and extending in a direction parallel'therewith. 'Said control shaft is mounted in the .fore and rear bearing posts -2l,' :22 of shaft-t5.

Right above the spiral gear 20 the vcontrol shaft is crankshaped, as shown in Fig. 3, in order not to touch the spiral gear '28. l he operation of the levers 525 under the control of shaft s5 is effected through the inter-medium of -a .pair of arms H, Q8 rigidly connected to or formed integrally with each other. Arm 4'! operates lever 24 indirectly, that is to say, by means of a pawl 5:9 fulcrumed to the arm at 5i! :and loaded by a spring 5|. Lever 24 is formed with a tooth'52 (Fig. 13) adapted to be engaged by pawl-49. Armdiii, on the contrary, acts directly on the upper edge of an arm of lever '25 situated to the right of the fulcrum 27, Fig. 12.

The movement of thecarriage on its path i is controlled electrically by means of a system of horizontal rows depends on the dimensioning and positioning of the contact members on the carriage adapted to be engaged by the keys. To this end the carriage is provided with a panel 5 carrying :a :contact element on a'level with each horizontal row which .is adapted when .en-

gaging a depresser key of the respectivezhorizontal row to close an electric circuit for stopping the carriage. The contact members 55 each comprises a vertical thin bar or lamina embedded in an insulating key restoring cam 56 in such a way as to have one vertical edge exposed in the middle of a gently sloping (right hand) key restoring surface of the cam adapted to act during the forward movement of the carriage (to the right in Fig. 1). The cam also comprises a more abruptly sloping (left hand) key restoring surface adapted to act during the backward movement of the carriage (to the left in Fig. 1'). The ten contact members 55 are arranged as an upper group and a lower group, each comprising five contact members. The upper group is adapted to control the setting of the records selected into register with one slot 9 and the lower group is adapted to control the setting of the records selected into register with the other slot 9. In other words, the upper group controls the setting of the car- I'iage for playing one side of the records and the lower group controls the setting of the carriage for playing the other side of the records. To this end the horizontal space between any contact member of the upper group and the corresponding contact member of the lower group is equal to the distance between the slots 9, that is to say, 9% record spaces, see Fig. In each group adjacent contact members are displaced horizontally with relation to each other by a distance corresponding to the record space, as will also appear from Fig. 2. In addition, the contact members 55 are positioned so that when the uppermost key of the upper group engages the key numbered I, that is to say, the upper left hand key of the keyboard, the record numbered I (i. e. the extreme right hand record in the carriage), is in register with the left hand slot 3.

The contact members of each group are electrically connected to a common bus-bar mounted on an insulating base 51, Fig. 5. The circuit controlled by the keys 54 in cooperation with the contact members 55 includes an electromagnet coil 58 situated below the base plate I, as shown in Fig. 9. Coil 58 is provided with a movable core 59 carried by a lever GI! fulcrumed at BI to a separate frame 62 mounted on the base plate. Said lever 68 is acted on by a spring 63 tending to pull the core out of the coil. Said movement is limited by a stop 64. The lever 60 forms above the fulcrum iii a detent to cooperate with a depending arm of a bell crank lever 65 fulcrumed at 66 to frame I52. The other, substantially horizontal arm of said bell crank lever is pivotally connected at 6! to a link 68 guided by an aperture in an upturned flange of frame 62. Between said flange and the respective end of the bell crank lever the link carries a coil spring 69. The bell crank lever 55 and the link 68 with its associated spring 59 represent a toggle joint which when acted on in one direction or the other may be quickly shifted under the influence of the spring to a position on the opposite side of the center line of the toggle joint and maintained in said position. On its free end, outside the guide flange, link 68 is provided with a laterally projecting arm If! for controlling a multi-armed lever 'II fulcrumed at I2. Said lever carries outside an insulation I3 the movable contact I4 of a switch inserted in the circuit of coil '58, the stationary contact of which is shown at I5, Fig. 8, as mounted in an insulating support it. The opening of said switch is controlled by arm I0. The closing of the switch is controlled by the lower gear of the pair of bevelled gears I3, said lower gear having to this end a set of pins 'I'I on its under side adapted to operate an arm of lever I I. Said pins T1 are of such a length as to be capable of operating the lever II only when the pair of bevelledgears I3 is in its lowermost position, that is to Say, with the upper wheel I3 in mesh with the gear I4 for driving the carriage forwardly (i. e. from the left towards the right). In the other (or upper) extreme position of wheels IS the pins 11 do not reach down to lever H.

The bell crank lever 65 above described forms a vault above the horizontal driving shaft I5 of the apparatus. In the plane of the lever 65 the shaft I5 carries a releasing device 18 comprising a spring controlled pawl 19 mounted at which is adapted to engage the inwardly pointing hookshaped end of the depending arm of bell crank lever 65 for the purpose to be hereinafter set forth.

The circuit of the coil58 includes a further point of break, comprising a pair of normally closed contacts BI, Fig. 12, mounted on a support 82 which may be forced apart by means of a knife 83 of insulating material carried by the right hand end of lever 25.

The electrical appliances belonging to the keyboard include in addition to the keys 54 a contact box 84, Fig. 3. Said box contains a plurality of switches for special purposes which may be controlled from the front side of the keyboard, namely, a switch 85 for starting and stopping the motor I8, a switch 86 for opening the circuit of the keyboard, a switch 31 for repeating purposes, a switch 88 for immediately interrupting the playing of a record, and a lamp switch 89.

In order to enable the carriage to be exactly stopped in a position to bring a selected record right above the one slot 9 or the other, as the case may be, the rack IU of the carriage is formed with two teeth every record space, so that there will be a tooth for each side of every record. To positively lock the carriage against movement from the moment at which a record is removed from the carriage for playing purposes to the moment at which the record selected has been restored after playing to its seat in the carriage, there is a detent 9i! adapted to engage the rack Ill. Said detent is mounted to slide towards and away from the rack on a bearing 9| under the control of a lever 92 mounted on the pivot 93, Fig. 3, and a link 94 extending in the north-south direction of the apparatus which connects a pivot pin 95 on the rocking lever 92 with a pivot pin 96 on a bell crank lever 91 pivoted at 98 to a rear column 3 of the frame of the apparatus. Said bell crank lever includes a depending arm extending from the pivot pin 98 down along said column 3 and a rearwardly extending arm which projects into the hollow column through an aperture 99 in the wall thereof, as shown in Fig. 6. Said last-mentioned arm is fork-shaped for its engagement with a projection we of an elevator mounted in the column which is adapted to re ceive a record at a time from the carriage through one of the slots 9 and move it to the playing mechanism and restore the record to the carriage after completed playing. In order to accomplish the functions desired in a ready and safe manner the bell crank lever 91 forms part of a toggle joint lever which in addition to said lever 91 includes a link IQ! of automatically variable length pivoted to the depending arm of the bell crank lever at I02 and a compression spring I03 surrounding said link. The other end of link IEH i pivoted to thecolumn 3 at I04.

r The above said record elevator comprises an endless .chain I'Ilfimounted in the frame-like hollow column 3' and associated tightening means, and a' pair of brackets I06 carried by said chain each of which is adapted to receive a record at a time through an individual one of the slots 9. Said brackets to this end are positioned in the same vertical plane as the respective slots and are of a thickness equal to that of the slots. The two brackets are guided along two opposite sides of the column 3, as shown in Fig. '7. They are rigidly connected together by means of an upper bolt III-l and a lower bolt I08. The endless chain is supported by an upper sprocket wheel I09 the shaft IIB of which is loosely mounted in the frame, and a lower chain wheel I I I, the shaft I I2 of which is driven. To this end the shaft H2 is connected through the intermedium of a combined reversing and disengaging gearing to the driving shaft I5. Said gearing includes a bevel gear 2!:3 on the rear end of shaft I and a pair of bevel gears H3 slidably mounted on shaft H2. The displacement of said pair of bevel gears is effected by means of a bell crank lever H4 car ried by the control shaft 46 which by means of a pin H5 engages into between a pair of flanges provided on the hub of gears H3. In order to permit the displacement the hub is formed with an axial slot engaged by a pin Ht on shaft H2. Shaft H2 is mounted, partly in the wall of column 3 and, partly, in a bearing II'I provided outside the pair of bevel gears H3. Thus, the bell crank lever II I receives its motion from the control shaft 46 but may, in addition, be operated by means of studs I I8 and H9 laterally projecting from the chain.

Provided at the lower end of the column 3 is a toggle joint lever similar to the toggle joint lever B'I/IIJI above described. Accordingly, said lower toggle joint lever includes a bell crank lever I23 mounted at I2I, a link I22 of automatically variable length and a spring I23. The upper'arm of bell crank lever I26 which projects through an aperture in the wall of column 3, is also forkshaped for its cooperation with projection I90 of the chain. Said projection is represented in the drawing by a stud fastened to the lower connecting bolt I98 of brackets I06.

Brackets I66 are adapted when in their extreme upper position to fill up the gaps represented by the slots 9 so that said gaps may not form any hindrance to the records when sliding with their edges on the bar I during the movement of the carriage. It is to be noted that in this case the upper edges of the portions of the brackets filling up the slots should be exactly on a level with the upper surface of the supporting bar I. This result may be obtained by the action of the upper toggle joint l ver 91/ IIII when influenced by the projection Illll in a way to be hereinbelow described. The lower toggle joint lever I29/ I22 acts in a similar way to force the brackets to their lowermost position under the influence of the projection and maintain them in this position under the influence of spring I23.

For guiding the records during their downward and upward movements the brackets are provided with guiding levers I24 pivoted at I25 and acted on by springs I26 which tend to force said levers upwardly against the edge of the records carried by the brackets. In the uppermost position of the brackets said guiding levers are held out of the path of the records contained in the carriage by means of stops I21. In all other positions of the brackets upward swinging of the brackets are l m t dby stop :p n I 2. fa ten d t the brackets which engage slots formed the guiding levers. To fix the uppermost position of the brackets with relation to the bar I; the brackets are provided with abutments I29 at their sides remote from each other, as will appear'from Figs. 1 and 3.

The main parts of the playingmechanism comprises two turn-tables I30, I3I having their record supporting surfaces remote from each other and otherwise so located that the surface of turn-table I30 is adapted to receive records descending through the left hand slot 9 and the surface of turn-table .I3-I is adapted to receive records descending through the right handslot 9. Both turnetables are carried "by a common shaft I 32 mounted in a bracket I33 fastened tothe column 3. On their sides facing each other the turntables are provided with bevelled friction surfaces engaged by a conical friction gear I35 on the 11pper end of the worm shaft I9. .Said last=mentionedshaft is mounted in the bracket I33, as shown in Fig. 2. It is thus seen that the unidirected rotation of shaft I8, as indicated .by an arrow in Fig. 2, causes the .two turn-tables to rotate in opposite directions.

Pressing of the records against the turn-tables is effected by means of pressure discs I355, one arranged in front of each turnetable. The pressure discs are supported by shafts I36 lying in axial alinement with the shaft of the turnetables. .Said shafts I 36 are slidably mounted in bearings arranged in housings I3] supported by posts I38. Each shaft I36 carries besides its respective pressure disc two coil springs I39, Ml], the former being inserted between the respective bearing I31 and a collar I I-I on the outer end of the shaft, and the latter being inserted between the pressure disc and a collar I 412 on the shaft, The pressure disc itself is clamped between the spring I43 and a collar I43.

The housing I31 contains in addition to the bearing for the respective pressure disc shaft I355 a bearing for a shaft I44 or I44" situated vbelow shaft I36 which extends horizontally in a direction at right angles thereto towards the rear columns of the frame .of the apparatus where it is mounted in bearings I45. Within the housing I31 the shaft I44 or ,IM" may positively .control the shaft I36 of the respective pressure disc by means of a lever L46 mounted at M] which is turned on rotation .of its respectiveshaft IA I or I44, in its turn imparting an axial movement to the shaft of the respective pressure disc.

The rotation of reach shaft IM or IE4" is .effected .by the cooperation between a roller I453 carried by a laterally projecting arm III!) .of the shaft and earns I59, I5 I carried by the brackets I06, Cams I50 control the rotation of shafts Mi l and I44 for preparing the playing of smallesized records, .cams I 5I control the rotation of the shafts for preparing the playing of large-sized records. The two .cams belonging to each shaft are displaced with relation vto each other in the direction of the shafts. The shafts are axially slidable in order to bring their rollers into register with the cams desired and set the tone arms hereinafter -to be described to-proper starting position for playing small or large records. The displacementis controlled by a cam I52, Fig. 5, attached to the carriage, through the intermedium 0f toggle joint levers connected to the shafts I l-I4 .and I44. The toggle joint lever of shaft .IM comprises two arms I53, I54 rigidly connected toeth r by eir ha t I55, 1 former of h ch carries a pin I56 engaging a circular groove in shaft I44, a link I51 of automatically varyin length pivoted to arm I54 at I58, and a compression spring I59 surrounding said link. Link I51 is mounted to turn on the stationary pivot I60. The toggle joint lever belonging to shaft I44 comprises similarly a pair of arms IBI, I62 rigidly connected together by their'shaft I63, the former of which carries a, pin I64 in engagement with an annular groove in shaft I44", a link I65 of automatically variable length pivoted to arm IE2 at I66, and a compression spring I61 surrounding said link. Link I65 has a stationary pivot at I 58.

Cam I52 is adapted on the movement of the carriage from the left to the right to act on the properly lengthened pivot pin I58 as well as on a special pin 25% in order to effect a Shifting of the shafts I44, I44 from their normal positions (in which they are set for the playing of small records) to the position required for the playing of large records. Formed integrally with cam I52 is a gentle sloping cam I52 adapted on the return stroke of the carriage from the right to the left to act on the pivot pins I58 and IE6 with a view to restoring the shafts I44 and I44" to their normal positions.

The cam I52 may be set to different positions on the carriage according to the number of large and small records it is desired to place in the carriage. In order to obtain consistency with the keys the cam may, for instance, be settable in steps each representing five record spaces.- The guide rods 8 for keeping the small records centered with respect to the supporting bar 1 should, of course, be adjusted accordingly.

The shafts I44, I44" also form control shafts for those levers which support the sound boxes with the associated needles by means of which the playing is carried out. For each turn-table there is such a tone arm I89. The tone arms are mounted on the base plate I by means of universal joints including for each arm a shaft I10 parallel with the path 4 of the carriage, a cube I'II mounted thereon and a pair of journal pins I12 disposed at right angles to shaft I10 by means of which the'tone arm is mounted on the cube. At its upper end each tone arm carries a sound box I13 with needle carrier and a mercury switch I14.

For its cooperation with the respective control shaft I44 or I44 the tone arm carries below the sound box on its surface remote from the turntable a bracket-shaped projection I15 formed with an upwardly pointing arm. Fastened to the side of the projection remote from the bearing housing I31 near the lower end of the upstanding arm is a plate spring I16 which extends upwardly along the upstanding arm of projection I15 and is shaped at its upper end as a hook projecting inwardly above the respective shaft. Said spring forms when its untensioned state a certain angle with said arm, as shown in Fig. 4, and may be put under tension by forcing it into contact with the arm of projection I15. The tone arm is adapted during its movement from the periphery of a record towards the centre thereof to move along the shaft I44 or I44", as the case may be. Each of these shafts is formed along the respective length with a recess extending to an axial plane. In other words, half the section of the shaft is cut away along this length. At the bottom of this recess a bar I11 is mounted which projects with one longitudinal edge to a certain extent beyond the periphery of the shaft. On its end remote from the bearing housing I31 said bar is formed with a short recess Its in its outer edge. The bar I11 acts as a crank or cam adapted upon the rotation of the respective shaft to impart a certain movement to the tone arm away from and towards the turn-table and a record held thereagainst. Said recess I18 determines the normal or starting position of the tone arm when playing is to take place and has also for its purpose to put spring I15 under tension when after a completed playing operation the tone arm is restored to said normal or starting position. The object of the spring is to displace the tone arm to bring its needle into engagement with the beginning of the spiral groove of the record so as to initiate a playing operation.

To restore the tone arms to their starting positions after a playing operation is ended a spring controlled lever is provided in connection with each tone arm. Said lever includes an arm I19 bearing against the tone arm which under the influence of a spring I35 surrounding the shaft of the lever tends to turn the tone arm in the direction away from the center of the turn-table, and an arm I19 adapted to be operated by the brackets I46 with a view to removing the arms I19 from the tone arms.

The mercury switches I14 as 'provided at the upper ends of tone arms are included in the circuit of an electromagnet coil IBI which is arranged in a way similar to that hereinbefore described with respect to the coil 58 but situated on the opposite side of the vertical plane through shaft I5, see Fig. 9. Coil I8I acts on a movable core I82 supported by the lower end of a lever I83 which constitutes above its pivot I54 a detent situated on the opposite side of shaft I5 to the detent of lever 65. The detent of lever I83 is adapted to engage the depending arm of a bell crank lever I85 pivoted at I85, the other or horizontal arm of which represents together with a link I81, pivoted to lever I85 at I88, and a spring I89 surrounding said link, a toggle joint lever similar to the toggle joint lever designated by 55/58 but pointing in the opposite direction and not including any member corresponding to arm 1%] thereof. The lever I83 supporting the core I82 is acted on by the same spring 63 acting on the coil supporting lever 55, inasmuch as said spring connects the two levers BI] and I83 to each other. In order to check the swinging motion of lever I83 under the influence of its spring an elastic stop ISO is provided.

Above the two toggle joint levers 65/58 and I83/I81 the control shaft 46 carries arms IQI and I92 provided with rubber heads which are adapted to be operated by said toggle joint levers when shifted to their upper positions in order to turn the control shaft '46 a certain angle in the one direction or the other.

As hereinbefore stated, the keyboard includes in addition to the keys 54 a set of switches 8589. It is already stated that the switch 85 controls the starting and stopping of motor I8.

Of the remaining switches, 86 controls the cir- 

